


Cracked Wood

by IcyPheonix



Series: VRAINS AU [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, off screen character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:02:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24097768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPheonix/pseuds/IcyPheonix
Summary: An enlightening talk with Ai leads Specter to become curious about his own Ignis, Earth, and sparks in him the desire to actually track down and meet his Ignis.Hopefully before anyone else does.Canon compliant to Possessed, taking place simultaneously as it and picking up at chapter 3You, probably don't need to have read Possessed to understand but it would help since some events from it are referenced.
Relationships: Earth & Spectre (Yu-Gi-Oh)
Series: VRAINS AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1253021
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Cracked Wood

**Author's Note:**

> FINALLY after sitting on this wip for fucking FOR EVER. It's done.
> 
> This is a sort of, side story set at the same time as Possessed, picking up around chapter 3, just after Specter and Ai have a short chat and continuing in the same timeline and ending around the same place as Possessed.
> 
> If you need to go reread that chapter before this, go ahead.

Specter had never been, particularly interested in finding his Ignis, especially considering he had decided to help destroy them. But watching Playmaker and Soulburner interact with their Ignises, and the bond they seemed to share with those small, curious creatures, it made him, dare he consider it, envious.

The Dark and Fire Ignis had searched out their partners, as had the Light and Wind Ignis, for better or worse for their partners. They weren't yet sure if the Water Ignis had sought out their partner, and after talking with Ai, it was clear that the Earth Ignis had not sought him out whatsoever.

Despite what he might say to any who asked, that he didn't care and it didn't bother him, it did. How come his Ignis hadn't sought him out? Ok, sure, being part of the Knights of Hanoi might not have helped him there but, did his Ignis even know that about him? Surely not, it wasn't like they did background checks on their partners before looking for them.

But, he still wondered why it hadn't come for him, and what his Ignis was like, what a partnership with them might be like.

Could he perhaps get along with them, would they like him? Surely if 'Earth' (as Ai had said it was called, a nice and fitting name as far as Specter was concerned) was anything like Ai or Flame they could get along. Then again, Ai had said that Earth wasn't to fond of humans, something they apparently had in common. It did sound like he had a fondness for the Water Ignis though, at least that was who Specter assumed this 'Aqua' was.

But, what about his loyalty to Ryoken-sama, to the Knights of Hanoi and their cause? Something like this would go against all of that. There was certainly no way that Ryoken-sama would allow him keep his Ignis, definitely not.

Then again, he was willingly teaming up with Ai, and to save Playmaker no less.

As Specter watched the pair depart, Ai situated inside his master's duel disk, he contemplated the idea of searching for his own Ignis.

Between Lightning's faction, SOL Technologies and Blood Shepherd, perhaps he should go and look for his Ignis. If any of them got their hands on Earth it would likely not end well for the Ignis, so really this was in the best interests for all of them. Regardless of what they thought about the Ignis, they couldn't allow SOL Technologies or the bounty hunters to get their hands on them, and whatever Lightning had planned couldn't be good, not if Ai's state was any indication. He had said that Lighting had tried to _consume_ him. So really, finding Earth would get him away from enemy hands.

Yes, once Playmaker was rescued and Ryoken-sama back safely that was exactly what he was going to do, he was going to find Earth and bring him back.

Not that he had any idea where to even begin. The Ignis were quite adept at hiding their signals and not being found if they didn't want to be, all they really knew was that they were somewhere within the network, at least the Wind and Light Ignis were.

He supposed he would just have to do it the old fashioned way, searching on foot. They did have a few clues, having picked up the signals a few times, so at least he had a starting point.

Normally, Specter would have loathed the idea of someone that was not him being the focus of Ryoken-sama's attention, but for once he didn't mind. Although Playmaker had been rescued, he seemed to have slipped into a sort of coma, resulting in Ryoken-sama looking after him-apparently taking him to the hospital was too complicated. But this time, Specter was willing to let it slide, after all, with all Ryoken-sama's attention diverted like this, it meant that he wouldn't need to try to come up with an excuse to go out and look, he could just slip away without a word.

Which is exactly what he did, returning to the boat to find a spot to get comfortable before logging in.

Earth; Specter wondered if it was some sort of lucky coincidence that his Ignis was the Earth Ignis and that his deck, his Sunavalons, were EARTH attribute monsters. After all, Soulburner's monsters were all FIRE attribute and Flame was the Fire Ignis. He wasn't sure about the rest though, as aside from Playmaker, whose deck was a mixture, none of the other Lost Incident victims duelled, so there were no decks to compare to their Ignis.

Specter debated changing his avatar, as he was fairly recognizable and there were bound to still be those hunting the Knights of Hanoi. The debate lasted all of 10 seconds when he decided that no, he wasn't going to change, he quite liked how he looked thank you very much. Bounty Hunters and SOL Technology be damned, if he found his Ignis they'd go after him no matter what he looked like, so he might as well stay the same.

The first places he set about looking where the last places that the Earth Ignis' signal had been picked up, a few scattered spots through Link VRAINS. Perhaps he could pick up some sort of clue from the areas.

Landing on a roof he looked around. He expected Link VRAINS to be quite empty given the recent threats and dangerous that had cropped up. To his utmost surprise, and annoyance, it was anything but. If anything it seemed like there might be more people there. Were people really that stupid? Then again, when _they_ had been attacking the servers people continued to log in and flock to Link VRAINS despite being warned not to do that. A mad man on the loose and Link VRAINS was thriving and going about business as usual.

Specter sighed and shook his head before materializing a D-Board once again and stepping off the roof. There was nothing more to be found there, not that he was surprised, it had been a few days since the Earth Ignis' signal had appeared in that area.

He wasn't even sure what he would say if he ran into the Ignis, small talk and conversing with literally anyone that wasn't Ryoken-sama was not something he had ever been good at. How did one just, start a conversation with someone anyways?

Well, perhaps he wouldn't have to say anything, maybe the Earth Ignis would start the conversation.

"Specter?! What are you doing here?"

Specter looked around, startled at being addressed by someone. Surprise momentarily flickered across his face when he spotted Soulburner and Blue Girl, gliding along on their own D-Boards.

"Am I not allowed to be in Link VRAINS?" he asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. "I am quite certain there are no rules forbidding me."

They both looked a little taken aback, sharing a look before turning back to him. "Well, I suppose not," said Soulburner. "I just, didn't expect to see you here. Especially on your own."

"I'm glad to see you both alive as well," said Specter with the barest hint of sarcasm, looking them up and down. "I do hope you are doing well, Blue Girl is it now?"

Blue Girl bristled, hands clenching at her sides and Soulburner looked at her nervously. "Please don't fight him right now," he said, pleadingly. "We have other things to be doing."

She sighed and let her hands relax. "Fine, I'll sort him out later. Just remember we still have unfinished business."

"And I look forward to it. However, I too have business to attend to. Perhaps we'll run into each other again."

With that he took off, heading to the next destination, somewhere else in Link VRAINS. Hopefully whatever they were doing wasn't going to get in his way. There was no way they would let him search for any of the Ignis.

Days went by and still, he had no luck in finding the Earth Ignis. He encountered Blue Girl and Soulburner a few more times, and through the short conversations learned about Playmaker's situation. Still unconscious and still in the care of Ryoken-sama it seemed. And Bowman was still nowhere to be seen, luckily. He also learned that they were searching for the remaining two Ignis as well, 'to protect them from Lightning' according to Soulburner. Specter had momentarily entertained the idea of asking to join them before shelving that idea. It would be a cold day in hell when they agreed to work with him for such a mission.

"So, what are you doing?" asked Soulburner one day while he was on his own. "I mean, I find it hard to believe you're trying to track down Lightning. I thought you did all that from your computers."

Specter was quiet for a bit, contemplating what he should say, perhaps Soulburner would have some information, some clue that he didn't yet have.

"I am searching the Earth Ignis," he said finally. "I...wish to find him."

"You want to find Earth?" asked the Fire Ignis, yellow eyes narrowed as he looked at Specter incredulously. "Why, for what purpose? Do you intend to destroy him like you want to do with us? Did Revolver put you up to this?"

Specter, for once, actually felt offended, even though he had expected this sort of reaction. "No, Revolver-sama does not know what I am up to. This is a, personal mission of sorts. And no, as unbelievable as it sounds, I don't want to destroy my Ignis."

They both stared at him, studying him closely, presumably to try and figure out if he was telling the truth or not.

Specter sighed, "Well, if that is all, I must be off. I do not have time to waste," he said. "Unless you have any information that could be of any help."

Soulburner and Flame shared a look before he shook his head. "Sorry. Playmaker and Ai were the ones who met with Earth, not us. And they're, well...you already know."

Specter nodded, "I see." As he took off he paused and turned back, looking over his shoulder at the pair. "Thank you."

It wasn't until they had taken off that a thought hit him, one he probably should have asked them about.. Despite the fact that he was searching for his Ignis he had no idea what it even looked like. It wasn't as if they had pictures on file of any of the Ignis they hadn't tracked down. He imagined Earth was small, as all the Ignis were, and probably had similar markings and glowing eyes, but beyond that, he had no idea what he was looking for. He supposed he would know it when he saw it, it wasn't like there were all that many tiny AIs running around Link VRAINS anyways.

He slowed his speed as he descended into a lower, seemingly unused section of Link VRAINS. The place was abandoned and looked as if it has been taken over by giant, digital spider, the remains of buildings and objects covered in what looked like digital spiderwebs, clinging to every nook and cranny and spun between floating bits of debris.

"I don't understand why they haven't just cleared this place out," he muttered, shaking his head. It was clear it wasn't used for anything, and not even of interest to the userbase, all content to fly around far above. If it was that uninteresting then there really was no reason to keep it. It was basically just dead data.

As he wove through the debris a flicker of movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye, he wasn't alone down there. He needed to be on guard, as whoever it was could be a threat.

It appeared again, coming out from behind some of the ruins and for a moment he couldn't believe his eyes, it was a tree. Or well, it was a humanoid figure that looked like a tree, covered in a bark-like skin with branches that stuck out of it. And it was flying on a D-Board that looked like it was made from branches as well.

Well that was, certainly a unique avatar, he had to give them props for that. He was just about to turn away when he spotted something riding on it. Something small and copper in colour.

Specter narrowed his eyes, he wasn't aware of any new add-ons or mods that allowed users to have pets or companions. Quietly, he moved in for a closer look, and as he did it stood up and he caught sight of dark markings covering the small thing's body.

No, it couldn't possibly be, there was no way, but it was the right size, and copper and brown colours would make sense for something related to earth. But, what was it doing down there? And what on earth was the Ignis riding? Surely it hadn't found another user to team up with.

"Who goes there?" The tree and the Ignis spun around and Specter realized he was busted.

Silence hung between them as they stood there facing each other, Specter unsure what to say as he hadn't actually expected to be caught. Should he introduce himself?

"Are you the Earth Ignis?" he asked finally.

The Ignis narrowed his bright blue eyes at him suspiciously.

When it didn't respond Specter continued. "My name is-"

"I know who you are."

The Ignis' voice was gruff and accusing and Specter winced slightly. "I see my reputation precedes me," he said. "I assure you, I mean you no harm."

"I don't believe you."

"I assumed as much," he said with a sigh. "Not that I blame you. I haven't given you any reason to trust me." Specter looked to the tree person that Earth was standing on. "So, who is your friend?" he asked.

Earth looked over their shoulder at the tree, then back at Specter and shrugged. "A tree."

"A...tree?"

"Yes."

"So, not a human user then?"

Earth looked offended. "Not unless humans are created from trees."

"Not usually no." For some reason, Specter found himself relieved that the tree figure was not another person. So, the Ignis had created this, tree person then. And apparently hadn't even thought to name it. "I am surprised to see you so out in the open," said Specter. "Considering how many are after you."

"Including yourself?"

"For a different reason, I assure you."

"You work for the ones who attacked my home," said Earth slowly. "Why should I trust you?"

"I..." Specter trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. "I believe you're the Ignis created from me," he said finally. "I would like to get to know you. I know you don't trust me but it is the truth."

Earth stared at him for a moment before he and the tree turned and continued on. "Aqua will know if you speak the truth," he said.

Ah so that was why the Earth Ignis had been wandering so much, he was searching for the Water Ignis.

"I suppose we shall have to wait for her then," said Specter with a sigh, drawing a bit closer to Earth and his tree partner. "You do know of course, that if I actually wanted to do harm to you I would have and could have already."

Earth just 'hmmed' quietly, continuing on his way and without turning back to look at Specter. The Ignis continued to look around the area from his perch on the tree being's shoulder as they moved. What exactly he was looking for Specter wasn't sure, as he doubted the Water Ignis would just be out in the open.

Then, it did something quite curious. Standing up he looked around for a moment then glowed. The dark markings that covered his body suddenly lit up, glowing brightly. For a moment, Specter felt something wash over him, though when he looked around it didn't seem like anything had changed. At least until he saw the strange, web coated structure ahead of them that had not been there moments before. It wasn't really all there as it was, it was more like a super imposed image, sort of blurred, as if he was looking at it through several filters. Whatever it was someone had deliberately hidden it within the network.

The glow vanished as abruptly as it started and Earth and his companion started forward, towards the strange structure. Specter followed them as they flew into the, thing, which seemed to be strangely hollow on the inside.

The inside led to a long, vertical shaft, at the bottom of which was what could only be described as a cage.

"Aqua!" Earth exclaimed as he neared the bottom and looking again, Specter realized there was a small, blue figure trapped within it.

"Did you come to save me?" asked Aqua as Earth landed in front of her. She looked past him and her tiny pink eyes widened. "Is this your Origin?" she asked.

Earth looked back at Specter, holding his gaze for a moment before turning back to the water Ignis. "He is. But he is part of the Knights of Hanoi. I do not trust him."

"Even though I have already given my word that I do not wish to harm him," said Specter, placing a hand over his heart dramatically.

Aqua studied him for a moment before looking back at Earth, who was studying the bars carefully. "I sense no deception in his words," she said.

Earth just looked at him before turning back to Aqua. "I am going to get you out," he said, reaching for the bars. As he grabbed the bars he growled in pain as energy crackled out from the bars and up the Ignis' hands.

"Oh please be careful!" cried Aqua. "This program, it's-"

"This is nothing." Earth grunt and Specter watched as tendrils of smoke began to rise up from the Ignis' hands as he pried the bars apart. With a grunt and a groan, Earth released the bars and dropped to his knees, hands looking like they had been rusted or burnt by the bars.

"Are you alright?" asked Aqua, kneeling beside Earth.

"I am fine, now, let us flee from here."

"If I may," began Specter. "Perhaps it might be prudent to allow me to help. The two of you are, after all, highly sought after by a number of unsavoury types. With me you are, less likely to be spotted."

Earth gave him a sharp look, narrowing his eyes at him, but Aqua simply placed a hand on his shoulder gently.

"He is right," she said. "We would be safer with your Origin than on our own."

After a moment of deliberation, Earth stood back up with a sigh, hands falling to his side. "Alright."

Kneeling down, Specter held out his arm and allowed the two small Ignis to climb aboard.

"Now, we should probably get out of here before someone finds out we're here," he said as he stood back up. "Especially whoever put you in here Miss Aqua."

"Aqua? Why do you call me that?" she asked, looking up at him as they began to move.

"Ah, well, that's-"

"The humans cannot speak our language," said Earth. "So we need names they can understand. Yours is Aqua." He prodded his fingers together timidly, wincing at the contact. "I...picked it out. You can, call me Earth."

Oh, these two were absolutely precious.

Aqua nodded before looking up at Specter, "And, what should I call you?" she asked.

"Specter is fine."

"Thank you, Specter."

She took Earth's hands in hers, encasing them in a sphere of water before placing her own hands on top of it and Specter noticed that it glowed faintly. He watched as the cruel, red marks slowly began to vanish, returning Earth's hands to their natural coppery orange state.

"So, Miss Aqua, how did you come to be trapped in that little bird cage?" asked Specter. "All hidden away like some sort of treasure."

She sighed, sinking to her knees. "Our leader, the Light Ignis. I caught him creating, a weapon I suppose. I believe he intends to use it against humans. I did not agree with him and he locked me away so that I couldn't stop him."

Earth balled his tiny hands into a fist. "Lightning. How dare he."

"It seems he also decided to destroy the Cyberse World as well," said Specter with a slight frown.

Aqua wilted, "I was, afraid that would happen."

"It is not your fault Miss Aqua," said Specter. "From I have seen I suspect he would have gone through with that no matter what."

Earth placed a tiny, reassuring hand on Aqua's shoulder and Specter watched as his Ignis comforted her.

"We should probably get out of here, before anyone realizes we are here," said Specter after a moment. "Lightning isn't the only one who is going to be looking for you I'm afraid to say."

"Where would we go?" asked Earth.

That was a good question, he couldn't rightly take the both of them back to their base, how on earth would he explain to anyone, especially Ryoken-sama, why it was he had two Ignis with him.

"We should find Miyu-chan," said Aqua. "I would like to meet her."

"Miyu?" Earth gave her a curious look.

Ah, that was right, Aqua would want to seek out her Origin after all, for the most part it seemed to be an almost natural thing for the Ignis to do. Almost.

"I suppose we should go and find her then," said Specter.

He knew who Miyu was, of course he did.

After the fall of the Tower of Hanoi, Ryoken-sama had taken it upon himself to track down the remaining victims of the Lost Incident, of which there were three.

Homura Takeru, who was, at the time, living with his grandparents in Shirakawa.

Sugisaki Miyu, who was, quite surprisingly, living in Den City, though she was attending a rather prestigious highschool rather than Den City high.

And of course, Arashi Hiyuu, Windy's unfortunate Origin, left hospitalized after a traumatic accident.

However, while Hiyuu's status hadn't changed and Homura's only change was his arrival in Den City, something had happened with Miyu. A short time ago they received a notification that she had been admitted to Den City hospital, apparently in a coma.

"I must warn you though Aqua, I'm not sure Miyu's in any condition to see you."

Slipping away from the boat was perhaps far easier than it should have been, in Specter's opinion. Though he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth considering he was carrying on his person not one but two Ignis and the fewer people that knew about that the better.

One change of clothes, a stop at the flower shop and a taxi ride later, he arrived out front of the hospital, a small bouquet of flowers in one hand. For his cover story, he'd said when the Ignis questioned him about them.

"May I help you?" asked the woman at the reception desk, looking as Specter approached.

"Could you point me in the direction of Miss Sugisaki's room? I was told this was the hospital she was staying at."

"And you are?"

"Himawari Ayame, a classmate of Miss Sugisaki's. I, was hoping to pay her a visit." Specter gestured to the flowers in his hand. She gave him a bemused look when he introduced himself and he hastily added, "A family of botanists I'm afraid."

"Very well, Ayame-san, though I will warn you, she may not be too, responsive," she said, apparently satisfied.

After getting directions to her room, Specter thanked her and made his way through the hospital to Miss Sugisaki's room.

"Ayame? Is that your name?" asked Earth.

"It is not. It is just something I came up with for this sort of work. Specter is the only name I need."

"Has something happened to Miyu?" asked Aqua.

"Yes but we're not sure what. She was admitted a few days ago, in a coma," he explained as he pushed the door open.

The room was quiet, the only sound to beard the machines in it and the ticking of a clock. Sunlight streamed in through the curtains and across Miyu's prone form, appearing as if she were sleeping.

Specter closed the door behind him before going over to the side of the bed and holding his arm out for Aqua.

The tiny Ignis pulled herself from the duel disk, alighting gently on Miyu's chest in a sight that made Specter think of a tiny fairy, not unlike those from fairy tales.

"Oh Miyu-chan." She reached her tiny hands out, touching Miyu's cheeks softly. "What happened to you?" Her tiny form glowed, shining pale blue like a tiny light. When the glow died down she turned and looked towards Specter and Earth. "It was Lightning. He's infected her with a virus. He got her when she logged into Link Vrains."

"So, she still duels," mused Specter.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Earth.

"Beat Lightning. If we beat him, I'm sure she'll be freed," said Aqua.

"Then it seems all of our goals align," said Specter. "Defeating Lightning."

"Specter, would I be able to trouble you for one more favour?" asked Aqua as he held his arm out for her. "I need to find Zaizen Aoi."

Tracking down Miss Zaizen was not something Specter had really expected to find himself doing. He highly doubted she wanted anything to do with him, all things considered.

Still, it was quite the coincidence that Miyu and Aoi had been childhood friends, something Aqua had apparently gleaned from her Origin's memories.

Then again, looking at Aqua he could see some physical similarities between her and Blue Angel. The blue colour, the pigtails, it was very 'Blue Angel'. 

However, between tracking down Earth and Aqua and visiting Miyu, Specter was drained and it was getting late, so searching for Miss Zaizen was going to have to wait till the next day, though he did promise Aqua they would search for her.

He could probably track her down outside of Link VRAINS but, it would probably be less creepy, and by extension make her more willing to listen to him, if he found her somewhere in Link VRAINS. If she assumed he was stalking her she'd want even less of a reason to talk to him and he'd never get Aqua to her.

As he set the duel disk beside his bed, he could hear faint burbling, beeping, clicks and chimes coming from it as the surface glowed lightly. He could only assume the pair were speaking to each other in their own language. It was, a strangely comforting sound to hear, the tiny inhuman Ignis voices, even if he couldn't understand it. Idly he wondered what they were discussing and wondered if they were talking about him. Earth still didn't seem to fully trust him, even with Aqua's insistence that Specter did indeed mean well.

Specter sighed and closed his eyes, perhaps one day he would.

"I'll need the two of you to stay quiet until I get logged back in," said Specter as he made his way towards the boat. Waking up early, Specter had gone for a morning walk to clear his head and get some fresh air, before anyone else woke up. However, as he made his way back to said boat, it became clear that during his time out on the dock at least one person was now up. And with both e Ignis with him and awake as well, he needed to ensure they wouldn't get caught.

While Ryoken-sama and Kyoko might have been busy with Fujiki up at the manor, Aso and Genome were another matter altogether. They might notice his tag-alongs if he wasn't careful and that was not a conversation he wanted to have. Especially with Genome.

Of course, they had to actually notice him first. As long as Ryoken-sama wasn't there he could slip in unnoticed. If he was there then Specter would absolutely be noticed. He'd always been able to slip past people unnoticed, anyone, except for Ryoken-sama that is. He always noticed him, which was flattering but this time he actually hoped he wouldn't run into him this time.

Wordlessly, he climbed aboard the ship and peered inside the cabin, no Ryoken-sama in sight. For once that was a good thing and he silently slipped in and past Genome, who was typing away at a laptop, and made his way to his room.

It was time to go and try and find Zaizen, and hope that she wouldn't bite his head off before he could explain himself.

With Playmaker currently out of commission it was likely that Blue Girl was still teamed up with Soulburner, so finding him was probably the best and fastest way to find her.

But of course, he still had to find them. Which was easier said than done.

With one Ignis perched on each shoulder, as they insisted on helping him search for Soulburner and Blue Girl, he soared through Link VRAINS. Surely they were logged in and there somewhere, after all they were likely still trying to track down the remaining Ignis as well. Perhaps he would gt lucky and they would find him like the last time.

He'd been soaring for hours with no luck when he felt Aqua give his shoulder a small squeeze.

"I think, that we're being followed," she said and he turned to look. Sure enough, a ways back behind them, was someone. He couldn't tell who it was as they were shrouded in a dark robe.

It wasn't Blue Girl, the figure was all wrong, to boxy and masculine to have been her, or Ghost Girl for that matter. And it wasn't nearly flashy enough to be Soulburner, plus he couldn't imagine Soulburner dressing like that. Perhaps it was Blood Shepherd, or one of SOL's goons.

Specter raised an arm, indicating for Aqua and Earth to hide, whoever this was probably not friendly. Aqua complied, slipping into the duel disk and out of sight, but Earth remained on Specter's shoulder, eyes narrowed and looking ready for a fight.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll hand over that Ignis!" they called as they drew closer.

That voice. Specter frowned, he had heard that voice before, in fact most of Link VRAINS had. No, there was no way.

"Why don't you show yourself?" replied Specter. He hoped he was wrong about who was under the cloth, otherwise he might have to duel and his deck really was not suited for Speed Duels, the field to small to take advantage of being able to move his monsters around.

The figure complied, ripping off the robe and Specter grimaced, he was right, it was Go Onizuka. Only, he looked different. No longer did he have his wrestler's physique, broad and well built. He looked thin, unhealthily so, and his face was thin and sunken in, cheekbones protruding through the skin like a skeleton. Dark bags had formed under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days. Which was quite the feat given that that was his Link VRAINS avatar and not his actual face. He was really committed to being the same in and out of Link VRAINS it seemed.

What on earth had happened to him?

"I'm not going to be handing anything over to you," said Specter. Not willingly at any rate.

"Then I'll just take it from you by force."

Specter growled, clenching his teeth, it looked like he was going to have to fight after all.

"I'll be the one to take you on!"

Specter turned just in time to see Earth leaping off his shoulder and onto the materializing form of his tree partner.

"Earth what are you doing?"

"Protect Aqua. I'll fight him."

"Earth..."

"So, you're going to let your Ignis do all the fighting then? That's fine by me."

Specter didn't get a chance to respond as Earth, now perched on the arm of the tree partner, moved to put himself between Specter and Go.

"It seems I have no choice," sighed Specter, placing a hand on his duel disk to keep Aqua hidden. If Go hadn't yet noticed that she was there yet then it was best to make sure he didn't know. Part of him wanted to flee, to get Aqua as far away from Go as possible, but he needed to stay so he could collect Earth once the duel was over and Go was beaten.

"Fine, then let's duel!"

"Then I'll take the first move, Ignis," said Go as they sped on ahead, leaving Specter to have to catch up to them.

"Isn't that Go? Who's he duelling?"

"It's, Earth!"

Specter didn't need to turn around to know who the owner of those voices were, Blue Girl and Soulburner. Well, at least that part of his hunt had come to an end. But, somehow he doubted they were in any mood to talk, especially to him. And especially Blue Girl.

"Specter!" Blue Girl hissed his name, her voice dripping with venom. "What are you doing here? Trying to catch the Ignis too?"

"My reasons are my own," he said, keeping his eyes trained on Go and Earth, who had already begun dueling.

The three followed from a distance, watching as the pair duelled. Something was different though, Go's dueling wasn't the same as usual, something about it was, off. And it worried Specter. But surely Earth could win this, surely there was nothing to worry about it. Right?

For a while it seemed like that was the case, Earth seemed to be winning and Specter felt his heart lift in his chest in, something, pride perhaps? Earth, his Ignis, was winning. No, he had won, as soon as the effect from his skill resolved it would be over and Earth would be victorious.

"I activate my skill, Anti Skill!"

What? Earth's attack hit and, Go's life points remained the same. How could that be?

"No! My skill, it was..."

Turning to look at Earth, Go flashed him a twisted, warped smile. "Anti Skill negates your skill once per duel."

Specter felt his blood freeze in his veins. No, that couldn't be. A skill that negated other skills? He'd never heard of such a thing before.

"And I draw two cards from my deck."

Earth narrowed his eyes before ending his turn, clearly as frustrated as Specter felt. This couldn't be.

No, no he couldn't think like that, Earth still had the advantage, he had more life points and still had monsters on his field, while Go had no monsters and only 100 life points left. If Earth could just survive this turn he could win it.

It was strange, thought Specter, to find himself concerned for the well being of this Ignis, of _his_ Ignis. He'd never thought he'd feel concerned about the fate of an Ignis. Then again, he never thought he'd find himself protecting one either.

He watched as over and over, Earth protected Crystal Heart from attack and destruction, a card that, judging from both Aqua and Soulburner's reactions, must have held a sentimental value to him and to Aqua.

"I activate the quick spell, Dino Roar! When my dinosaur battles, I can send one spell or trap card on your field to the grave yard. I select Gravity Protection."

Specter was sure his heart stopped. If Gravity Protection was destroyed, then so too would the card equipped to Crystal Heart, which would leave Earth completely defenceless.

"No." He could only watch in frozen horror as the trap was destroyed and Crystal Heart's attack fell to 0.

"Stop. Don't do it!" cried Earth as Go continued his attack, the monster slamming into Crystal Heart and shattering it to pieces like it was glass.

Specter was paralyzed, frozen to the spot as he watched. Earth's life points hit zero, the tree duelist vanished like a destroyed monster as well.

No, no Earth couldn't have lost.

Aqua cried out but it was muffled by Specter's hand as he kept her down and inside the duel disk. She didn't need to see this.

He wanted to reach out, to fly towards Earth and grab him, but his body wouldn't respond, only able to watch on as Earth, slumped in defeat, glowed red and began to crumble away into tiny bits of data as he was sucked into Go's duel disk.

From behind him he could hear the horrified cries of Soulburner and Blue Girl, and the enraged yelling of Flame as they screamed at Go to give Earth back, that Earth wasn't an enemy Ignis.

"I wanted to take on Playmaker, but you have an Ignis as well, so you'll do just fine," said Go, pointing at Soulburner. "For a warm up."

"I'll take you on!" cried Blue Girl, whipping past Specter, who had found himself just sort of hovering on the spot, too shocked to react.

Before any duel could start however, Go began to flicker blue, then vanished entirely, logged out apparently by an outside force.

Specter let his hand fall from his duel disk, Earth was gone, just like that. He'd finally found his Ignis, found a bond he hadn't expected to find, wanted to protect him in a way he'd never wanted to protect anything before and now, he was gone. And he felt sick.

"You know, I knew you were cold hearted, but this a new low," came Blue Girl's voice and he looked up to see that she and Soulburner had now turned their attention to him.

"Earth was your Ignis, and you just...you let him duel on his own and get taken away!" growled Flame, banging his tiny fists against the surface of Soulburner's duel disk. "Why didn't you protect him?"

Normally Specter would have let these comments roll right off him, they wouldn't have bothered him. But this time, he found himself hurt by these accusations, after all it wasn't like he had wanted to let Earth fight alone or be taken. But Earth had told him to protect Aqua, and somehow Specter doubted that Go had had any interest in duelling him without an Ignis on the line. For once, Specter wanted to respond, to defend himself, but nothing came. It was as if his tongue had turned to lead in his mouth and his voice silenced.

Unable to form any words, let alone a coherent sentence, he did the only thing he could think of, he logged out.

Gasping and stuttering, Specter sat up, heart hammering in his chest.

"Specter, are you alright?" asked Aqua, rising out of the duel disk, wringing her tiny hands together.

"I don't know," he said, pressing his free hand to his forehead. "I think that I need some air."

He staggered to his feet, one hand grabbing the wall for support as he made his way to the door and out of the room. His legs shook as if they were made of jelly and he stumbled all the way down the small hall, through the main room and out onto the deck, only being acknowledged when he bumped into Aso's chair at one point.

"Ah." He ran a hand through his hair as he looked up at the sky, the sun dipping low on the horizon as later afternoon slowly turned to dusk. "I was going to give you to Miss Zaizen, wasn't I?" he asked, glancing at his duel disk. "Well, I can't log back in, so I suppose I'll have to go and look for her outside of Link VRAINS."

"Do you know where to find her?" asked Aqua.

"I have a few ideas."

It seemed there was no way around tracking her down and coming off as a stalker, so Specter hoped she'd listen to him long enough for him to hand Aqua over. After what had just happened to Earth, he wasn't sure he trusted himself to protect Aqua now.

Specter clenched his hand at his side. He hoped he could get Earth back. He didn't even care what Ryoken-sama would think, he just wanted his Ignis back, wanted to know he was safe. The thought of Earth in someone else's hands, in SOL Technologies' hands, made his stomach twist sickeningly. He didn't even want to think about what they were going to do to poor Earth.

"Specter?" Aqua looked up at him from the duel disk, appearing as a single eye as she peered up at him. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know," he said. "I suppose I am...concerned about Earth. It's strange, I've only known him for a short while but the thought of anything happening to him makes me feel sick. I...I want him back." It felt strange to say those words but it was true. He did want Earth back, wanted to hold him and keep the small, orange Ignis safe.

But first, he needed to ensure that Aqua was safe, which meant getting her to Aoi.

He did know where Aoi lived, though not because he had stalked her. It was Akira they had been keeping an eye on. With his inside knowledge of SOL Technologies and his hacking skills, Ryoken-sama had thought it best to keep an eye on him, as he might prove useful, especially if they could convince him to aid them. The fact that he seemed to be stepping on more than a few toes at SOL Technologies didn't hurt either.

The walk through the city was fairly quiet, Specter and Aqua keeping silent so as not to draw attention to themselves. Specter had just rounded the corner onto the street where the Zaizen residence was when something hit him. At least, that was what it felt like, a sudden heavy blow direct to his chest. Then, something snapped deep inside and he clutched his chest instinctively, shaking as he swayed on the spot.

At the same time he heard a soft cry of surprise come from within the duel disk, the first noise Aqua had made in some time.

As the pain subsided it was replaced by a new sensation, a deep overwhelming sadness. His fingers tightened their grip on the fabric of his shirt as he shook, tears freeing themselves and rolling down his face in a silent sob. What...what was happening to him? He hadn't felt like this since, well, since his mother tree had been cut down. Except that this, some how felt worse. Like, something had just been cut out of him.

He stumbled a few paces before finding a place to sit down on the curb to catch his breath, heart hammering in his chest. What was happening to him? His emotions never got this out of control, at least not like this anyways.

"Specter?" Aqua's voice was soft as she called out to him and he felt a tiny hand touch his. "Specter?"

He didn't respond, dragging his fingers through his hair as he took deep breaths, trying to calm himself and regain his composure.

"Something's wrong with me," he said, his head just about resting in his lap now. "Something's wrong."

"I think it's Earth."

Specter raised his head and looked at Aqua. "What do you mean?"

"We-the Ignis-we're all, connected I supposed you could say, so we can feel each other. And just now, Earth's connection to us just, vanished," she said sadly. "I'm worried that something bad has happened to Earth."

Specter's stomach twisted uncomfortably. No, no it couldn't be. He was going to rescue Earth, he was going to get him back. He sunk his head into his hands in silence, he had no idea what to do any more.

He wasn't sure how long he sat at the side of the road, head in his hands as he tried to ignore the stinging pain inside his chest, when someone suddenly called out his name, almost unheard by the rumbling motor of a motorbike.

"Specter? What are _you_ doing here?"

He lifted his head as a bike rolled to a stop just a few feet from him and the passenger pulled their helmet off to reveal Aoi.

Oh, well this was a twist, for all his searching she had found him in the end.

She exchanged a look with the driver and nodded before climbing off the bike, still looking at Specter.

"Are you stalking me now?" she asked as he scrambled to his feet.

He opened and closed his mouth silently, trying to form words. How was he supposed to explain that he was only a few houses away from her house?

"You have a lot of nerve, first Earth and now this?"

"Please do not blame Specter!"

A gentle voice rang out, freezing Aoi in place as both her and Specter looked towards his duel disk, where Aqua had materialized, wringing her tiny hands together.

"That-that, you have an Ignis?" she sputtered.

"Earth asked me to protect her," said Specter, slowly picking himself off the ground. "That's why I didn't fight. I was keeping a promise."

"Where's her partner? You didn't do something to them did you?"

"No, he did nothing to Miyu-chan, it was Lightning who-"

"Did you say Miyu?"

Aqua nodded.

"We were looking for you," said Specter, holding his arm out. "Please just, take her."

For moment Aoi just stared at the small blue Ignis, gaze flicking between her and Specter, before lifting her arm up and holding it out, offering her own duel disk to Aqua.

Specter watched as the surface of his duel disk rippled as Aqua rose out of it, hopping over and into Aoi's duel disk, which glowed softly as the water Ignis landed in it.

"Thank you, Specter," said Aqua, turning back to him. Then she looked up at Aoi. "I am afraid that something terrible has happened to Earth," she said. "We need to rescue him."

If the twisting in Specter's stomach was bad, the feeling of it plummeting to his feet when Aoi went uncomfortably silent and looked away, was worse.

"What happened?" he asked quietly, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

"It's...they..." she looked back to the driver, who Specter finally realized was Ghost Girl, her helmet now tucked under one arm.

"SOL Technologies they, deconstructed him I supposed you could say. Took him apart bit by bit," she said. "It was ghastly."

A shudder rippled through Specter. No wonder it felt like he'd lost something, like something was missing. Because it was.

"So, Earth is gone then. I can't even try to save him because there's nothing to save." He clutched his chest again, voice shaking as he spoke. "I suppose I really am cursed to lose everything."

"I'm so sorry," said Aqua, reaching out futilely to him.

"I think we have a lot to talk about," said Ghost Girl. "All of us. But not here. Aoi, go gather your things and then the three of us will get out of here."

Still reeling, Specter was barely aware of being loaded onto Ghost Girl's bike, sandwiched between her and Aoi, or the ride through the night darkened city to what he assumed had to be her place. It all just sort of blurred together for him, a long series of events that was merely an observer to as it pulled him along.

"You know I'm surprised," said Aoi, tossing her bag onto the couch as they entered the apartment. "I didn't think you would care if anything happened to Earth. I mean, aren't you trying to exterminate the Ignis?"

"It's complicated," he said.

"It must be for you to have been protecting an Ignis," said Ghost Girl. "Why don't you take a seat and tell us about it. I'm sure you have quite the story to tell."

**Author's Note:**

> Some fun facts about the names chose for Windy's Origin and Specter's real world alias. Cause I needed names.
> 
> Hiyuu is written combining the kanji meaning 'fly' (飛 hi) and 'brave' (勇 yuu). Arashi just means storm. Wanting *something* wind related. (also 'Yuu-kun' sounds cute so HA)
> 
> Specter's name is meant to be the equivalent of someone smushing two words together and calling it a name (like 'Holly Moonflower or something') so it sounds believable but is also like someone just threw two related together and called it a day b/c I don't imagine he cares all that much just as long as it sounds passable.   
> In this case, Himawari = sunflower and Ayame = iris
> 
> that's it, that's all it is, just the names of two flowers smushed together b/c 'well it kind sounds real'.   
> Also yes I am aware that Ayame is typically a girls name. But if FruBa can have a male named Ayame so can I.
> 
> (also sunflowers represent respect and iris loyalty so there's that too :>)


End file.
